We had a lovely breakfast (and I was spot on about the sough dough bread – it made amazing toast – dad and I had to fight for the last piece) and then met our Skye guide, Don.
I confess I was a little concerned about meeting Don. We’d exchanged emails and had a quick telephone call, and it had been very loosely agreed that he would collect us outside our hotel at 10am. He asked us to bring cash, and he didn’t require a deposit. I half expected it to be a scam because he was so much cheaper than the other Skye tour companies. Turns out my fears were groundless. Don is in his late 70’s, has lived on the Isle of Skye all his like and has a retro Nokia telephone with head piece (no wonder he wanted cash). Don knows everyone and people were just stopping in the road to talk to him, ask him how his doing and querying why he hadn’t yet retired.
Today, Don took us to the Northern Skye sites, starting at Nest Point Lighthouse. Don pointed us in the direction of the footpath and off we set. There were a lot of steps down (which meant a lot of steps back up!).
At the bottom of the first major staircase dad decided to stop (wise move). Phil and I carried on and as we cleared the head land, I also decided that the “view was sufficiently lovely” that I’d also stop. Phil carried on, headphones in, head down, all the way to the lighthouse. I watched him disappear into the distance from my vantage point.
Getting back up to the top was a chore but Phil helped me along by lending me one of his headphones and introducing me bagpipe techno. Despite my aversion to bagpipes, I will say that bagpipe techno is a good genre of music if you ever need to climb a significant staircase – It certainly has a rousing beat which get you moving.
From there we visited Uig, the Fairy Glen, Quiraing, Kilt Rock, Staffin Bay (An Corran Beach), Leaf Falls, Old Man Storr and Portree. I was surprise just how much ground we covered in one day (10am – 4pm, with no lunch break). Don was an excellent guide, debunking all the myths and legends and telling us anecdotes from his life and childhood, growing up on Skye.
In the afternoon I had a lovely relaxing bath followed by a nap before heading down to the bar for cards and cocktails before dinner. The restaurant is closed today and tomorrow evening, so we have the place to ourselves.
We had dinner at Skeabost House Hotel which is located on the shoreline of Loch Snizort. The views from the garden were lovely but I was simply too tired to enjoy the food. We headed back for an early night.